Cricket - former Town player in Aussies’ one-day squad

A former Peterborough Town player has been named in Australia’s one-day squad for next month’s series in England.

Marcus Stoinis (25) played for the Bretton Gate club in 2012 and smashed three whirlwind half-centuries in Northants League Premier Division games. He also took several valuable wickets including a hat-trick against Stony Stratford.

That summer he also went on to play for Kent seconds and scored a century for them.

Stoinis made his first-class debut for Western Australia at 19 and last summer hit 785 runs at an average of 49.06 for Victoria’s Sheffield Shield side.

A handy double of 77 and 2-18 in a four-day game for Australia A against India A in Chennai last month helped lift him a step closer to his ODI debut.

The medium-pacer is unsure if he’ll be playing an all-rounder’s role as a replacement for suspended quickie James Faulkner in new skipper Steve Smith’s squad for the five-game series.

“I probably should have asked that when the chairman of selectors Rod Marsh called me but I was a bit flustered,” Stoinis said.

Stoinis turns 26 on Sunday. His new captain Smith is his former team-mate at Australia Under 19 level.

Speaking of his selection Stoinis said: “It has happened a bit quicker than expected but I’m not too surprised, if that doesn’t sound arrogant.”

Stoinis is one of three uncapped players in the squad, alongside Queensland batsman Joe Burns and spinner Ashton Agar. Western Australia’s Agar has been preferred to World Cup squad member Xavier Doherty and Test spinner Nathan Lyon.